CHAPTER 15:
"Leia," Luke placed his hands on the princess' arms. Leia continued squeezing the air bag connected to a tube down Han's throat at precise intervals. "If we surrender," he whispered, "they might give Han the medical attention he needs."
"And what if they don't?" she challenged.
"We don't have a lot of choice," Calin said. "We're outnumbered."
"We're not giving up!" She yelled. She glanced up from her ministrations, "Luke, take over here."
Skywalker quickly took her place. The princess pushed her hair out of her eyes and scrutinized her would-be rescuers, "I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to be a prisoner of the Empire again." Several storm troopers broke formation and approached the vehicle, and Leia inhaled deeply, "It's now or never."
The rebel posing as an Imperial officer, Faren, revved the engine, "We'll go in full force."
Wedge and the other rebels cracked the tinted windows and began firing as the large speeder forced its way forward. Leia fell on her butt, and the pallet Han laid upon slammed against the back of the vehicle. She flipped herself around unto her stomach to face him and was visibly relieved to see Luke still caring for Han.
Luke's blue eyes looked down at her, "Are you okay?"
"How is he?"
Luke exhaled, "He doesn't look too good."
She pulled herself to her feet and rushed over to her two friends, "He doesn't have a lot of time." Leia picked up one of Han's hands and silently cursed when she noticed the blue tinge of his nails. She closed her fingers over Han's so that Luke didn't notice, "How far is the shuttle from here?"
Luke peered out the window, "Just beyond that corner ahead."
The princess' eyes followed Luke's. Chaos ensued inside and outside of the speeder, but it looked as if the rebels were on the winning side. Leia stared at the corner they were approaching, willing the speeder to go faster with her frantic thoughts. It wouldn't be long now…
The speeder rocked violently. Wedge pulled his blaster in and looked to the front of the vehicle, "What was that?"
Faren slammed the speeder into reverse, "An AT-ST!"
"Just great!"
"Now what?"
The princess' mouth opened, but nothing came to mind. Han didn't have the time to find another route to the shuttle, and she was certain he wouldn't receive medical attention from any of the medical facilities here on Finel. If they were captured, the Imperials would probably give him the best medical attention only to turn around and torture him. She looked around her as the Rogue Squadron continued firing out the cracks of the windows and Faren continue pushing the speeder full force in reverse. Leia then looked out the window above Han. The wall behind them was closing in fast. She licked her lips and watched Luke tend to Han.
"Stop the speeder!" she ordered.
"What?" Faren asked, and a few rebels stopped firing to see if the princess was serious.
"Just do it!" she yelled.
Faren did as he was told, and the other rebels retracted their blasters. Then the storm troopers outside ceased firing.
Leia went over to Luke and wrapped her arm around his waist. She leaned in close to him, her breath tickling his ear, "Whatever happens don't you dare stop working on Han."
"Huh?"
Without another word, the princess pulled Luke's light saber from his belt.
"Leia!"
"Don't you stop, Luke!" she shouted over her shoulder, certain he'd do just as he was told.
"Your Highness—"
"I'm going to end this once and for all!"
Wedge moved to restrain her, but quickly backed away when the girl activated the light saber. "What are you going to do?" he held his hands out.
"What does it look like I'm going to do?" she challenged.
"You can't expect to—"
"Stay away!" she waved the light saber around, careful not to hurt anyone but threatening enough to keep everyone at bay.
"I thought you didn't want to be a prisoner of the Imperials ever again," Wedge reasoned.
"I have no intention of being a prisoner," she calmly stated.
"There's too many of them out there," Wedge whispered. "It's suicide."
The princess deactivated the light saber and favored Wedge with a small smile that was anything but warm, "Maybe I'll be enough of a distraction to allow you to escape."
"There's too many out there," Calin echoed Wedge's argument.
Farin stepped in the princess' path, "Your Highness, I can't let you do this."
"You can't stop me."
"Leia!" Luke called to her, "Come back here!"
She glanced over his shoulder, her eyes flashing cold with her anger, "Don't you dare let Han die, Luke!"
The boy's face turned red as if he'd been physically slapped. The other rebels could do no more than watch the girl exit the speeder.
The princess sucked in her breath. Her chest puffed out defiantly as she stepped into the open air. Calin was right; there were too many of them for her to make a big enough impact for the rest to escape. But there was no going back now, and she had nothing else to lose. The Imperials stared at the lone girl. Some of them lowered their blasters while the officers exchanged confused looks. One of the officers came to his senses and signaled two troopers to apprehend the princess.
As the two storm troopers approached the girl, she activated the light saber and held it down at her side. The two troopers froze in their tracks while those further away re-aimed their blasters. Leia slowly brought the blue saber into an awkward fighting stance. Some of the officers chuckled at the sight.
"Set for stun," one ordered.
As the bolt zipped toward her, Leia swiveled the light saber around, managing not only to deflect the bolt but to send it back to the storm trooper who fired it. Her brown eyes widened in amazement at the sight of the fallen trooper. Everyone else seemed just as surprised as she.
Wedge watched the scene from inside the large speeder, his finger itching to pull back on the trigger of his readied blaster. The rebels around him were also poised for action. They were just waiting for his word. Wedge could feel Luke's anguished eyes upon his neck. He understood they young man's feelings. He was feeling that anger as well. But if Wedge ordered the rebels to fire, their actions would prompt the Imperials to fire back, and he was certain those blasters would no longer be set to stun. With Leia standing in the cross-fire…well, he couldn't bring himself to call the order.
Leia readied her stance again. She tried to look as menacing and threatening as she could, but she doubted she was coming even close to reaching that goal. And she highly doubted that she could repeat the same performance with the light saber. Deflecting that first shot was pure luck. Still, she waited for the Imperials to fire again, expecting a full assault this time.